Kathy Pilhuj, who was senior vice president of data collection at Scarborough Research and a leading innovator in the market research industry, has passed away. She was 61 years old. Pilhuj's main responsibility at Scarborough was managing the company's two telephone interviewing centers. She was well known as an innovator, developing a number of industry best practices such as empirically-proven hiring tests, continuous every call measurement of interviewer performance and an over-arching quality/response rate concept called "best use of sample." She also led the programming, IT and data collection teams and was responsible for dozens of servers and data …

ConAgra Foods saw fiscal Q1 earnings drop 42% as a result of input costs, the company reported. The company's overall sales rose 9.5%, and its consumer food sales gained 4.4%, but its cost of goods leapt 15%, pushing gross margin down from 23.2% to 19.5%. ConAgra raised prices on 90% to 95% of its product portfolio in its fourth quarter. It now has bumped up its estimate of cost inflation for its consumer foods segment this fiscal to to 9% to 10% (from 7% to 8%). However, it has not changed its earnings outlook. ConAgra, …

Apple will unveil the next version of the iPhone at an event on Oct. 4, according to an AllThingsD report today. The launch will also mark the first major product rollout for newly promoted Apple CEO Tim Cook, whose debut performance will no doubt be gauged against the legendary presentations of company founder and chairman Steve Jobs. Whether Jobs himself turns up is another question. In any case, the iPhone 5 is expected to hit stores a few weeks after the announcement.

Quaker Oats has partnered with digital startup Zazu to launch a mobile app, ZaZu Mornings, reports Drugstore News. Available for Android or Apple iOS, the app uses a soothing human voice, waking up users with weather, traffic, personalized newscasts, their daily calendars and...suggestions for what to eat for breakfast. Quaker director of digital Barbara Liss noted, for example, that the brand might pair a snowy-day weather report with a suggestion for an instant oatmeal breakfast.

Nissan is getting actor and comedian Adam Carolla to back a social media campaign for the 2012 Versa sedan. Carolla's ACE Broadcasting company is involved in the effort, a series of videos to show why he decides to change his name to 'Adam Versa', his own road trip around his hometown of North Hollywood and a "Hypothetical Road Trip Game" with Larry Miller. The promotional relationship backs a social-media campaign at MyVersaRoadTrip.com, a Facebook Connect website. Consumers are meant to go to the site and create a road trip by selecting routes, picking soundtracks and inviting three Facebook friends …

In Pizza Hut's latest television commercial, promoting the return of its $10 Any Pizza deal, Miami Dolphins star running back Reggie Bush is "traded" for a pizza. The new ad, from The Martin Agency, shows one  fantasy football owner offering to trade Bush to another in exchange for a pizza -- a move that Bush agrees with, once he's tasted the pie. Bush is the first pro football player to star in a Pizza Hut commercial in more than a decade.

To promote is Unlimited Value pricing plans, T-Mobile is offering a one-day sale on its smartphones and tablets this weekend. On Saturday, Sept. 24, new and existing customers who sign-up for an Unlimited Value plan with 2GB or higher of data will be able to purchase any smartphone or tablet with a down payment of $99.99 or less (with a mail-in rebate). "T-Mobile is committed to making 4G affordable with the latest wireless mobile Internet services and devices that fit within every budget," said John Clelland, T-Mobile's senior vice president of marketing, in a statement. "Our one-day, in-store …

In the hopes that it can encourage American men to pull up their pants and ditch their XXL t-shirts, Van Heusen is introducing an "Institute of Style." A partnership with GQ and ESPN, the effort hopes to challenge men to step up their style game, and even share their transformation in a "From Schlub to Swagger" contest on the campaign's website. The problem, the company says, is that while 85% of the men it surveyed think they have style, the majority of women beg to differ. Specifically, women think men need help getting rid of baggy pants and shirts, …

Mercury Insurance has partnered with Andrew Murray -- who at age 14 is the youngest sanctioned NASCAR driver -- to promote Mercury’s “Don’t Text and Drive Pledge” campaign. Drivers can sign the “Don’t Text and Drive Pledge” which is at http://mercuryinsuranceopen.com/pledge.aspx. Mercury will be sponsoring Murray in his NASCAR K&N Pro Series West debut at All American Speedway in Roseville, Calif. on Oct. 15. He will be driving the Mercury Insurance #32 Team Heritage Motor Sports Chevy. Murray, who began his racing career at age five, has already been speaking to high school students on …

With Fashion Week's Spring runways exploding with bold colors last week, marketers will paint a brighter future for shoppers in the coming seasons. Pantone, which just released its Colour Planner for Spring/Summer 2013, says the palette for women's wear, menswear, active wear, cosmetics, lifestyle and industrial and graphic design, will include brights that "move from the primary spectrum of past seasons into a new fluorescent range," the Carlstadt, N.J. company says. "And these super strong colors are paired with a family of soft sisters: five sweetened pastel tones." Other trends include more natural colors, such as dusted pink, greeny-blue and …